Federal Law increases competition in organ procurement, transplant system; NKF, ASN approve -

The President signed the bipartisan bill into law on Sept. 22. The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) was operated by a single non-profit for nearly four decades, but has been criticized for failing to put a dent in transplant wait lists, which typically exceeds 100,000. Besides opening up the organ transplant system to increased competition from contractors, the legislation will require the federal government to double its investment in organ procurement and transplantation to $67 million, The law has the approval of the National Kidney Foundation and the American Society of Nephrology.